Freckled Duck at Lake Macdonald

Freckled Duck

This morning I found a Freckled Duck on Lake Macdonald on the Sunshine Coast. The bird was seen from the hide on Grange Road among a large flock of Hardheads. The numbers of Hardhead (estimated 500) was unusually large for the region. These images are poor because the bird was distant and it was raining and overcast.

Freckled Duck & Hardheads

Freckled Duck is a rare visitor to south-east Queensland and was not known from the Sunshine Coast until 2 birds were found in another section of Lake Macdonald at the Noosa Botanical Gardens in 2013. The species had not been recorded in the region since then.

Buff-banded Rail

A Buff-banded Rail was obliging along the path to the hide.

Wandering Whistling-Ducks

Groups of Wandering Whistling-Duck were at both Grange Road and the Noosa Botanical Gardens.

Sacred Kingfisher

Elsewhere, this Sacred Kingfisher was feeding on a crab at Pt Cartwright.

Spotted Pardalote

Striated Pardalote

Spotted Pardalote and Striated Pardalote are both active in the home garden.